It's the driest April for years - bring it on....

5th & 6th April 2003 Afan Argoed and Cwmcarn

Mike has organised another of his Welsh weekends. There's plenty of riding and even more pictures for your enjoyment.

Adam in Afan

13th April Richard & Keef - Redlands Trailbuilding

Keef and I have been meaning to help out the Redlands_Project at Leith_Hill for ages now. We finally got our arses into gear today and turned up to the organised trail building session on the Summer_Lightning series of trails. Dan was running the session and pointed us and our spades in the right direction and off we went.

After spending a good while extending the exisiting climb up the hill we moved onto a fresh section of singletrack. It was amazing to see how quickly a great looking piece of singletrack grew from nothing in front of our eyes. First we cleared the fallen logs and branches from the area before marking out a suitably interesting route. Then it was on to digging through the layer of mulch before reaching the mineral soil. We then cut in the edges and tamped down the base before finishing for the day. The best news was that Dan advised the trail should be ridden to pack it down so we are already making plans for a return next week.

19th April Richard, Mike, Paul, Keef & David C - The_North_Downs

A welcome return to Leith_Hill today. After shivering in the the car park at Holmbury St Mary Youth Hostel because the weather has turned surprisingly cold we soon warm up as we make the long climb to the top of Holmbury_Hill. During a brief pause there we get chatting to Scarlet, a lone rider who appears unsure of the best descent and so we agree to show him the rollercoaster route down (you know, the one marked "mountain bikers this way").

It's so much fun that we return up the fireroad to repeat the experience but this proves my undoing. I lead the group into the section but take too much speed into one of the turns - as the powder dry soil slides away my front wheel washes out and suddenly I'm eating dirt. The others fly by me as I tell them I'm okay but as I remount to follow on I realise that the chain has wrapped around the bottom bracket and jammed between this and the bolts holding on the inner chain ring. Although I have a set of Allen keys with me it's a fiddly job and takes at least 15 minutes to remove the bolts to free the chain and then put it all back together.

We're all shivering by now and the long, fast descent into Holmbury doesn't help. However there's plenty more climbing as we approach Leith_Hill. We reach the top without any more problems and a welcome cup of tea and some cake from the NT shop at the Tower. The wind is very cold now and with little shelter we don't hang around long.

Leith_Hill is David C's regular haunt and he now takes up the lead as we head towards the Summer_Lightning trail at Coldharbour. He decides to show us all the 'hidden' trails that are off the main bridleways. Despite the fact that the rest of us have spent a lot of time riding in this area most of what he shows us is new to us all. Before Summer Lightning we come to 'Deliverance'. This is an extremely steep descent so called because the dilapidated corrugated shack and general appearance of the area remind you of that great Burt Reynolds film of the same name. Plus, if you lose control on the descent you're gonna get f*cked as Mike soon discovers.

Paul and Mike are the only two who try Deliverance whilst the rest of us make a detour after a number of false starts. Well done to Paul who was fearless and hope you aren't too stiff tomorrow Mike - it was impressive seeing you disappear into that cloud of dust as you flew off your bike!

                    log hoppin'                                                  Telegraph_road - work it out yourselves

Summer_Lightning passes in a blur - a great trail that is getting longer each time we visit (well, we were extending it ourselves last week). There is still time for more surprises as David C earns the nickname of 'Sherpa' leading us cross-country before following 'Telegraph_Road' to return to the car park.

My rear disc has been dragging for most of the route adding a lot of resistance to the wheel rotation and my legs feel heavy but I know I will be back as we load up the bikes and head for home.

27th April Richard, Mike, Paul & Keef - The_North_Downs

Q: What's the only thing better than fettling your bike on a Saturday in readiness for a Sunday ride?

A: Getting someone else who knows a lot more about bikes to do yer fettling for you!

After my problems with the rear Hope last week, Huey agreed to have a look at it for me. After bleeding the brake, we (okay, it was Huey) realised that 2 of the pots were sticking. After lubing them with fluid they are now spot on. 'H' also noticed that the levers were too close to the end of the bar and also needing winding out to improve reach and lever action. After so much work on the all-important cockpit of the machine I was desperate to get out to test it and the chance duly came as we were back to Leith_Hill to find that singletrack and to seek our Deliverance.

Mark then agreed to show us some of the singletrack on the 'other'_Redlands but before that, a quick stop at Deliverance. Again, Paul led the way and I buried some demons from last week by nailing it too. Then over to our resident stunt man Keef. After a slow roll in, he soon accelerated over the top of his bars and as he dived headfirst into the ground and bounced, his bike bounced over him at least 3 times and continued to the bottom.

Onto the other trail at Redlands. This proves to be a great mix of testing singletrack with steep descents, log rolls, drop offs and other assorted obstacles.

With every return visit, the North_Downs are proving there reputation as the mecca of Southern riding. As is true everywhere tho' you have to go riding with a local to show you the best riding.

Top